4-year olds and knee walls

The next house we buy will NOT, I repeat, NOT have a single knee wall. While I love them for their decorating possibilities, they become, at least in our house, clutter magnets. We have one just as you come in the house from the garage. It invites keys, cell phones, lunchboxes, coats, or whatever you happen to have in your hands to be set upon it and remain.

We have two by the front door and the steps to the upstairs. The one closest to the front door stays mostly clear, but the one near the stairs is the perfect place to drop all the stuff you need to take upstairs but don't want to right now.

There are two more between the living room and the dining room - those stay pretty cleared off and decluttered. The last one is between the kitchen and the family room. That one is my least favorite.

At Christmas time, it is a lovely place for decorations - except for the fact that the small fry in our house decide to jump on the loveseat bordering it and play with said decorations. During the rest of the year, it is THE dumping place for anything I don't want on the counter any longer. I can't seem to break that habit and will continue to work on it.

The other reason I despise knee walls is their height. Small children and knee walls just don't mix. About 5 weeks ago, William hit his head, just above the eyebrow on the knee wall near the kitchen. Head wounds bleed like there is no tomorrow, as I discovered first hand that day.

Today, was the icing on the cake for that knee wall.

Sarah was napping and William had chosen a DVD to pass away some of the afternoon. He was skipping/bouncing/being 4 back into the family room with me close behind. He hit the corner of the knee wall and instantly collapsed to the floor. I scooped him up, realized that he was beginning to bleed and grabbed a wet paper towel.

After calming him and slowing the bleeding, I called for Kevin. Praise the Lord he was working at home today. We quickly confirmed my initial suspicion that he would need stitches or glue on his ear. Leaving Sarah at home with Kevin, I made arrangements for Rachel after school and William and I headed for the ER.

We waited for about 20 minutes and then were brought back into Triage. The nurse did not either read well or understand what I said happened, because she was convinced he had a ruptured ear drum due to an ear infection. Therefore, despite William's complete refusal to allow a thermometer in his mouth, she tried to insist, telling me she would take it rectally if necessary. I've never taken his temperature under the tongue, so he had no idea what was going on. She finally understood that his ear was cut and an accurate temperature was not completely necessary.

We got settled in our room and began the wait for treatment. The physicians assistant came in, took a look and said, yep - stitches. Sigh.... She came back about 5 minutes later with the doctor who confirmed this diagnosis. The doctor told us she would try to put some pre-numbing on the ear, but was unable to due to the location of the injury.

All this means that William is going to be getting multiple stitches without anything to numb the pain (or settle him down). Hmmmm....can *I* have a sedative?

William initially flipped out at the swaddling the doctor, p.a., and nurse proposed. After they left to gather reinforcements, William and I had a little chat. I calmly explained to him what was going to happen and that yes, it was going to hurt a little. I asked him whether he would want a new monster truck or a transformer for being good. His answer, "can I have both?" That's my boy! I told him he could have both, but he would have to be super, extra-special, good.

The next time the team came in, William allowed me to lay him on the bed. We wrapped him up tight and I held his hand from under the sheets. He cried a little, said he was scared a couple times. The team and I all talked to him and told him how good he was being and how brave. He grinned through his tears when the nurse teased him a little about wanting the toys. The doctor was able to take her time and make neat stitches and it looks like everything will heal nicely.

I will never have another knee wall in my house.